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The international media clearly and repeatedly paints a picture of Israeli soldiers as heartless killing machines who mercilessly assert the claims of an evil regime and violate international law in the name of democracy.

This is nothing less than a smear campaign against these soldiers, their army and, ultimately, the entire Jewish state.

The latest example of this attitude is the one-sided coverage by respected news agency Reuters regarding a confrontation between Israeli soldiers and a French diplomat.

Reuters reported that Israeli soldiers “throw sound grenades at a group of diplomats, aid workers and locals in the occupied West Bank, and yank a French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents.” The diplomat, Marion Castaing, was quoted as saying, “TThey dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity. This is how international law is being respected here.”

The truth is that the foreign diplomats in support of Palestinian squatters were attempting to set up tents in the area, after Israel’s Supreme Court had ruled that the land did not belong to those claiming it.

If the rulings of a supreme court are to be so easily disregarded, what is a state to do? Every nation in the world must be able to enforce the local law.

And the Israeli soldiers present, many of them just 18 or 19-years-old, were just doing their job. What wasn’t reported by Reuters was that these soldiers were attacked by the so-called “peace activists” and diplomats. The soldiers fought back, and Reuters had its next headline. A little too convenient, perhaps?

Reuters likely assumed that no one would fact check specific points of the story, such as a claim that an Israeli soldier purposely aimed his gun at Castaing’s head. But the soldiers were ready, the IDF having outfitted each unit with digital video equipment. The footage provided by the soldiers showed they had offered no such threat, and rather that it was the diplomat who was by far the more aggressive party, striking one soldier in the face.

Castaing is now being recalled to France following stern protest over the incident by Israel.

The double standard of news agencies like Reuters is clear. When Israeli soldiers are killed in unprovoked attacks or Palestinian rioters attack Jews in Jerusalem, the media only provides passing coverage. But when a Palestinian is killed, or even just when Israeli soldiers uphold the decisions of their Supreme Court and defend themselves from aggression by foreign activists, well, that is the stuff of front page stories.

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